Karl Rove announced Monday that he is resigning as George W. Bush’s chief political advisor at the end of this month. Victory? Not really.

He was the man described as the brain behind the George Bush presidency. Often called Bush’s brain, Rove’s departure means he will not be around to help when the top US general and diplomat in Iraq deliver their progress reports on the administration’s “surge” strategy in September.

Rove spent all of last year trying to avoid indictment for leaking the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame after her husband criticised Bush’s justification for invading Iraq. It all began when Joseph Wilson, a retired US diplomat, claimed Rove had illegally leaked to the media the identity of his wife, Plame. Wilson stated the leak had been planned in retaliation for his NYTimes article, in which he refuted a claim by the Bush administration that the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein had explored ways of purchasing uranium ore from Niger. The claim, made by Bush in his 2003 state of the union address, was widely used to justify the subsequent invasion of Iraq. An investigation into the Plame leak led to perjury and obstruction of justice charges, and subsequent conviction of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a former chief-of-staff for Dick Cheney.

But prosecutors decided last year not to charge Rove with any wrongdoing.

More recently Rove has been subpoenaed by the Democratic congress to tell what he knows about the firing of federal prosecutors deemed insufficiently loyal to the Bush administration. Bush has refused to allow Rove to testify.

Rove had enormous power in Bush’s white house. Former cabinet officials say every policy decision went through him. Rove’s style was known to be relentlessly partisan and hard hitting. Rove’s dream was to create a permanent Republican majority, instead he leaves us with a failed presidency.